Sheriff Shouldn`t Judge Peers

May 11, 1985

A JUDGE must be held to a higher standard of behavior than the general public. If a judge is guilty of a misdemeanor, for example, it affects his credibility in judging the guilt or innocence of someone else charged with the same offense.

In a real sense, the 17 members of the state`s Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission act as judges. They decide whether to ``decertify`` police officers in Florida.

One of the 17 has paid a fine for a misdemeanor charge of gambling. He is Seminole County Sheriff John Polk and he ought to resign as a commissioner because his credibility is greatly diminished.

Polk, acknowledging that he ``played a little blackjack,`` paid a $50 fine last year on the gambling charge. He apparently lost $300 in blackjack games at a barbecue in Volusia County last May 25.

An observer of the gambling sent a letter of complaint to Gov. Bob Graham, and the FDLE investigated. In Volusia County a gambling charge can be treated as a minor matter; Polk paid his fine without appearing in court.

Polk violated state law but continues to act as a judge of other police officers` actions. Yet Graham, who appointed Polk to the commission, inexplicably sees no reason to remove him.

The Florida commission is known nationally as being aggressive in decertifying police officers. In the past four years, 216 Florida police officers have been decertified; one was decertified for gambling. To be decertified means the person cannot be a police officer in Florida.

The grounds for decertification are both specific and broad. Specifically, if a police officer has been convicted of a felony or of a misdemeanor involving perjury, he can be decertified. Broadly, if he has less than a ``good moral character,`` his punishment can be the same.

The broad aspect is being assailed by lawyers representing police officers who are about to go before the commission for possible decertification.

Some of those officers haven`t been convicted of a crime, and their lawyers plan to attack the commission`s credibility because Polk violated the state gambling law and yet is making vital decisions about their clients.

The commission`s important work could be undermined by Polk`s poor judgment in gambling. He shouldn`t be sitting in judgment of other police officers, and if he doesn`t resign, Graham should remove him from the commission.